When adjusted for inflation, the years of aid "freezes" become years of aid decreases, and as you'll see, the result has been a steady rise in municipal tax levies. The governor hopes his new plan provides incentive for municipalities to share more services and/or merge to save costs.

This chart shows data for 2000 through 2006, all adjusted into today's dollars, using aid figures culled from the Division of Local Government Services, and our own trove of tax data collected over time from LGS and Treasury: